Editorial: Long march between rhetoric and results

Thursday

Feb 26, 2009 at 12:01 AMFeb 26, 2009 at 7:26 PM

In a perfect world, state of the union addresses would be 20 minutes long and the president delivering them would under-promise and over-deliver. Alas, perfection was not to be, at least on Tuesday evening with President Barack Obama.

In a perfect world, state of the union addresses would be 20 minutes long and the president delivering them would under-promise and over-deliver. Alas, perfection was not to be, at least on Tuesday evening with President Barack Obama.

Not that we’re being critical, necessarily, though all in all this was a pretty traditional performance — nearly an hour long, complete with the rundown of promised programs, the requisite people props, the majority party with its standing ovations and the minority party sitting on its hands.

Certainly this talk had its moments. If we had hoped for a little less “New Deal” FDR and a little more rally-the-troops Churchill going in, what we got was something closer to vintage Muhammad Ali, promising to kick some economic butt, doing a little rope-a-dope with opponents, getting into some call-and-response rhythm if not quite rhyme.

Of course, it’s not braggin’ if you back it up, and certainly we hope, for the nation’s sake, that Obama & Co. do. We can’t recall a more outspokenly ambitious agenda: 3.5 million new jobs in the next two years, double the nation’s renewable energy supply in three, halve the deficit by the end of his first term, even find “a cure for cancer in our time,” for gosh sakes.

Certainly the president left no one guessing about what his priorities are: energy independence, affordable and quality health care for all, cradle-to-career education. Nor did he mince words in communicating there’s a new sheriff in town, as this speech may have been most striking in its repudiation of the policies of the Bush years.

Indeed, multiple times Obama spoke of the deficit his administration “inherited.” He will raise taxes on the nation’s wealthiest, end the U.S. occupation of Iraq, stop no-bid military contracts, close the prison camp at Guantanamo, bring transparency to the nation’s behavior at home and abroad. “For seven years, we have been a nation at war. No longer will we hide its price,” he said. “Without exception or equivocation ... America does not torture.”

Fundamentally, Uncle Sam is embarking upon a philosophical about-face: “I reject the view that says our problems will simply take care of themselves, that says government has no role in laying the foundation for our common prosperity,” Obama said.

He also sounded some populist themes, assuring Americans that the “days are over” when CEOs “use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet.” Meanwhile, he appreciates the outrage over seeming to reward irresponsible decision-making with mortgage rescues. “I promise you. I get it,” he said. “But “in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment.”

The president also attempted to soothe the skeptics and confront the critics who feel he’s taking the nation in the wrong direction. The idea, he said, is not to “supplant private enterprise,” but to “catalyze” it. The recently passed stimulus package came “not because I believe in bigger government. I don’t,” but because “the cost of inaction” is “far greater.”

Still, he’ll forgive those who think bigger government is exactly what he believes in, that he’s over-reaching, that his spending is nothing short of alarming. Cut the deficit in half? Half of what? Half of this year’s projected $1.2 trillion? If that’s the case, we’d remind readers that a $600 billion annual deficit is quite unsustainable and comes nowhere near sparing future generations of “a debt they cannot pay.” Meanwhile, he promises to all but eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse” in the budget. We’ve heard that before.

The president may have been at his best on the subject of education. “Dropping out of high school is no longer an option,” he said. “It’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country.” Parents must do their jobs. “There is no program or policy that can substitute for a mother or father who will attend those parent/teacher conferences, or help with homework after dinner, or turn off the TV, put away the video games, and read to their child. I speak ... not just as a president, but as a father when I say that responsibility for our children’s education must begin at home.” So it must, and it costs taxpayers nothing.

Finally, this president knows how to be stirring, and he certainly has the body language — relaxed, confident — down. “We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before,” he said, while reminding listeners of this nation’s proud tradition of responding to challenge. “This is America. We don’t do what’s easy. We do what is necessary.”

Rhetoric is one thing, reality another, of course. Wall Street’s knee-jerk reaction to the president’s speech was not positive. The banking bailout still lacks specificity. Home sales have a way to go. The budget this administration crafts will be quite telling. Frankly, we’d settle for Washington getting its spending under control and pointing the economy back in the right direction and say, “Hallelujah!”

Apparently, that’s not enough for Obama. If nothing else, now we have a definitive blueprint against which we can measure this chief executive.